Embodiments described herein relate generally to devices, systems and methods for measuring the dose remaining in a drug delivery device.
Many chronic disease patients are prescribed medications that need to be self administered using injection pens or similar drug delivery devices. For example, patients diagnosed with Type I or II diabetes need to regularly check their blood glucose levels and self administer an appropriate dose of insulin using an injection pen. In order to monitor the efficacy of the medication, dose information needs to be recorded. The process of manually logging dose information, particularly in an uncontrolled setting, is tedious and error prone. Patients often forget to log the dose information when administering medicine. In addition, many such patients can be minors or elderly and cannot efficiently keep track of the dose information.
Incomplete dosage records hinder the ability of the patient to self-manage disease conditions and prevent caretakers from adjusting care plans through behavioral insight. Lack of adherence to target dosage schedules for injectable medicine can result in an increased need for critical care, which results in a significant increase in health care costs in countries around the world.
Thus, there is a need for better technological aids to assist patients in improving their ability to self-manage disease treatment. Such aids can not only make the patients more aware and educated about their health condition, but also assist caregivers in better monitoring patient health. In particular, there is a need for systems, devices and methods that facilitate data acquisition on patient behavior and that allow that data to be used to reduce the incidence of hospital visits (e.g., readmission), as well as to inform and educate patients, care providers, family and financial service providers.